Toys are often designed to have play value by simulating a real object. Toy guns and rifles have been marketed for decades and include such devices as water pistols and rifles, cap guns, BB guns and rifles, dart guns and NERF brand launchers that discharge a soft foam toy dart or projectile. It is desirable to simulate a double barrel shotgun in a toy but doing so in a successful manner has proven difficult.
Double barrel shotguns are well known and are disclosed in several existing patents. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 409,017 for a “Breech Loading Gun” issued in 1889 to Comstock, and purports to disclose a shotgun having a top lever for releasing barrels allowing them to pivot by gravity. Using additional levers and springs, shells are removed, new shells loaded and the gun is cocked, all in a compact and inexpensive manner. U.S. Pat. No. 522,464 for a “Breech Loading Breakdown Gun” issued in 1894 to Fox, purports to disclose a shotgun using a sliding lock bolt and springs whereupon pivoting the barrel of the gun causes automatic cocking of a hammer where all of the mechanisms are internally located. Another U.S. Pat. No. 532,090 for a “Cocking Mechanism For Breakdown Guns” issued in 1895 to Park, also purports to disclose a mechanism for automatically cocking the hammers of a shotgun by tipping the barrels.
Toy guns have also been patented. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,744 for a “Toy Double-Barreled Shotgun” issued in 1969 to Nielsen, purports to disclose a toy shotgun using spring loaded cartridges that are loaded into the rear opening of each barrel and projectiles in the cartridges are released by a trigger mechanism having two elements for releasing each cartridge sequentially by one continuous stroke of the trigger. U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,929 for a “Gun With Pivoting Barrel And Lever For Retaining Barrel In Position Or Permitting Barrel To Pivot” issued in 1988 to Milliman, and purports to disclose an air gun with a pivoting barrel and a cocking and retaining lever. When the lever is pivoted to unlock the barrel, the barrel pivots automatically to a loading position and the lever cocks the hammer. When the barrel is loaded, the barrel is pivoted back by the user to a firing position and the lever is moved to a barrel retaining position. Reference is also made to a toy having a double barrel arrangement that is pivoted to allow darts to be loaded, each dart mounted to a plastic shell with a hole in its base. A release lever allows the gun to open so that the dart/shell combinations may be loaded. Pivoting the double barrel arrangement cocks a pair of spring-loaded pistons and pulling the trigger fires one dart and a further harder pull fires the second dart. The shells remain in the barrels and springs in the barrels that are compressed when the shells are loaded, cause the shells to be ejected the next time that the double barrel arrangement is pivoted.
These patents and devices are of some interest, however, they do not disclose or illustrate a superior marketable toy item.